Improbably yours
by kenbotkt
Summary: AU set during the first year of the expedition. Col Sumner is not dead, the wraith have not woken up, Teyla has not joined the expedition, the wraith does not know about the expedition, they are still cut off from Earth. Will be slash later on Sheppard/oc


Alternate Universe set during the first year of the expedition. Colonel Sumner is not dead, the wraith have not woken up, Teyla has not joined the expedition, the wraith does not know about the expedition yet and the expedition is still cut off from Earth.

Chapter 1

It wasn't everyday that I wake up irritable despite my families objections to the contrary. Its just that I didn't get a lot of sleep the night before and as the night wore on so did my annoyance. I was unable to stop the nagging little voice inside me from going over each and every one of the many failings in my life. That was a list that seemed to get longer with each passing day. By morning, I was more than ready to rip someone apart whether they deserved it or not.

After a quick breakfast or ice cream and coke, I managed to piss off both my mom and my sister. Today was going to be one of those days where I just could not seem to stop myself from saying the first thing that came to mind. The end result was that everyone thought I was being a dick and that I would always be a dick. I really can't blame them for feeling that way. I feel the same way. At 39 years old, I have pretty much been a dick my whole life. Not that I wanted to be a dick, it just sort of happened that way. I always felt that I was meant for more in life but I had no idea what that was or how to figure it out. The end result was that I was an uneducated, unemployed and unskilled failure with horrible social skills who ended up living with my sister and her family. The only one who actually likes me is the dog and I think that's only because I play with him and take him for plenty of walks usually after everyone gets upset with me.

After my sister left to take my mom home and then head to her job, I went back to my room and decided to log onto the computer to check my Facebook page. When your unemployed, social media tends to suck you in. I had just logged in when my life suddenly took a drastic turn for the weird. Either that or I have finally had that full fledged psychotic break people have been saying I was long overdue for. One moment I am at my desk and the next I am sitting on the floor of a large room staring at some very surprised people with large weapons pointed at me. I may not be Toto, but this definitely wasn't Kansas.

"Who the hell are you and how did you get here" was being screamed at me by a rather red faced man in some sort of military uniform. It took me a few minutes for my brain to reconnect with my mouth or any other body part.

"Ethan, my name is Ethan. I don't know where I am or how I got here", I stammered out before being grabbed, frisked, and dragged up some stairs and down a corridor before being pushed into a room and left there alone. I could feel my anxiety level sky-rocketing but my brain seemed to be on auto-pilot. I should have been freaking out but I wasn't. Things were really confusing and I hoped that I would be left alone for a bit while I calmed down and could get a handle on myself.

The room had a chair which I gratefully sat down in and put my head in my hands rubbing the side of my head. A headache was quickly coming on and I could tell it was going to be a bad one. I took some deep breaths and began to go down the list of things that I knew. I knew …. well, I knew nothing other than I wasn't in my room at my sisters house. A quick look around and I could tell that the room was strangely decorated but it had a soothing quality about it. The room did not have a window in it nor did it have anything else that might have given me a clue as to where I was. I wasn't even to attempt the "how I got there" part of the equation yet. The door was different than an ordinary door and I remember one of the military guys pushing a panel on the wall to open the door. There was a panel on my side of the door but I wasn't about to push it. I figured the guys with the guns would not like it if I were to open the door and just walk out. Besides, until I knew more about what was going on I really had no reason to leave the room. And that's when my traitorous body decided it needed to take a leak. I decided the urge wasn't strong enough I couldn't hold it for a bit, but I would ask for a bathroom when one of the military guys came back. I should probably just start calling them guards since I am pretty sure that is what they are.

After what could have been 30 minutes, the door opened and two military men came in. I was in the Army for a few years right after high school so I was expecting to be grilled at some point. I just wasn't sure how much of a grilling it would be. Fortunately for me they had rank I knew. One was a Major and one was a Colonel.

"Who are you and how did you get here"? Were the first words out of the Colonel's mouth. The Major was standing to his side and looking at me but I could tell that his attention was as much on the Colonel as it was on me. Something told me that I did not want to be a dick with these guys. The Colonel really looked like he would not take it well.

I tried to steady myself as best I could before replying. "My name is Ethan. Ethan Mathews. I do not know where I am or how I got here. I was sit.." Before I could finish the Colonel held up his hands and stopped me.

"I don't believe you. There is no way that you could just show up here and not know how you got here. Either you start talking or I will make things very difficult for you."

"I don't know how to prove to you that I am telling you the truth. I can only tell you what I know and hope that you will trust me enough to check out my story and see that it is the truth. I have already told you my name. You're obviously military so I know that you can check and see if I am who I am saying I am. I was once in the military myself a long time ago. My prints and records should be someplace you can check." It was the only thing I could think of to say. Judging from the look in the Colonel's eye, I don't think he really wanted to hear that.

The Major spoke up then and I am not sure why but the Colonel seemed to clench his jaw even harder then. "Why don't you tell me everything that happened before we found you here."

"Well, I was sitting at my desk in my room logging into Facebook and the next thing I know I was sitting on my butt with a bunch of guns pointed at me."

"That's the biggest crock of lies I have ever heard in my life. You just expect us to believe that you were magically transported here all by yourself with no knowledge of how or by whom?" the Colonel practically screamed at me before turning and heading back toward the door. "You had better come up with something better than that or you will never leave here." and out the door he stomped. The Major just looked at me with a poker face and followed out the door behind the Colonel. It didn't take a genius to know that I was screwed and not in a good way.

I decided to pace the floor while I tried to figure out what was going on all the while rubbing the side of my head hoping my headache would not get any worse.

Dr Weir was not a militant woman. She knew that her being placed in charge of the expedition was done to appease the IOA and was not a decision that sat well with certain people in the military. Her military commander was one of those people who did not like the idea of a civilian being in charge of what many believed was a military operation. The two of them had a rocky peace at best and she doubted that things would get any better any time soon. She needed to show the entire expedition that a having a civilian leader was the right decision to make and that she was the right person for the job. The only other option was for Colonel Sumner to take over command. She has seen how he ran his military personnel and shuddered to think of how much damage he could do if he were to ever take over as head of the expedition. She did not have much time to dwell on her situation as more pressing matters demanded her attention. She had to figure out what to do with the strange man who suddenly appeared out of nowhere and was currently being questioned by Colonel Sumner and his XO Major Sheppard. Secretly she thought that she could count on Major Sheppard's support given his service record should things ever get so bad that she needed support from the military. What she didn't know was how much support the military personnel on the expedition would give Major Sheppard given his service record. It was truly a double edged sword at times.

"Colonel Sumner, Major Sheppard, and Dr McKay, could you come to the conference room please once you have finished questioning our visitor." she asked over her radio, but it was clear that it was a request.

"So what have you been able to find out about our visitor?" she asked once everyone was gathered around the large table in the room.

"He claims that his name is Ethan Mathews and that he does not know where he is or how he got here which a bucket full of lies if there ever was one." Colonel Sumner replied clearly not liking that he was having to report his findings to a civilian.

"Do you have any reason to believe that he is not telling the truth about his circumstances Colonel?"

"You can't honestly believe that he is telling the truth? I know you were an ambassador before you joined the expedition but you can't be that gullible can you?"

"Colonel now is not the time for you to express you opinion of my past work. I need to know in detail what your findings are. So far the only thing that you have told me is what he already said when he was first found. Dr McKay have you found anything that could be of use?"

"Actually, yes and no. I did manage to find some strange background radiation but it quickly dissipated before I had a chance to gather enough data to drawn any conclusions."

"So you basically just wasted your time and ours Dr." Colonel Sumner spat out in obvious contempt for the man.

"Oh yes, and your the man who has all answers Colonel. You could not even interrogate him well enough to find out more than his name. You didn't even get his rank or his serial number. So please spare me the high and mighty routine"

"That's enough! Major Sheppard, do you have anything that you would like to add?" Dr Weir asked turning her attention from the two ill-tempered people before her.

Major Sheppard was not one who got along well with his superior officers. He knew that they did not like him and he usually did not like them. However given his current set of circumstances, he had no choice but to try extra hard to get along with Colonel Sumner although he believed that if he really needed someone to side with him, Dr Weir would be that person. Perhaps even Dr McKay would stand by him just to annoy the rest of the military personnel in the expedition. So try not to slouch to much in his chair, he took a moment to contemplate his answer before he spoke.

"I think that until we find out more information, we have no reason not to believe him."

"Figures you would say that Sheppard. Your a pilot not a real soldier. You have no idea of how to maintain base security."Sumner said as he rolled his eyes.

"Is that why you allowed someone to show up unannounced and uninvited in your secure military base Colonel, or did the entire reason we are having this conversation go over your head?" Dr McKay really could throw the verbal punches when he wanted to. Sheppard just gave McKay a quick grin before turning back to Dr Weir.

"Perhaps we should have Dr Beckett check him out to make sure that he is OK. Maybe he can find something that we can't while Dr McKay continues his work on the whole how he got here problem." Sheppard suggested.

"That sounds like a good ides Major. Have him taken down to the infirmary …." Klaxons started blaring and the headpieces in their ears came to life as a medical team was requested for the room where the Ethan Mathews was being held.

Not wasting a moment, everyone but Dr Weir ran out of the conference room and headed to see what was going on, none of them expecting to see a glowing ancient standing in the hallway outside of the conference room door. The ancient just looked at them and then vanished leaving them all gaping at the site.

Once they got down to the infirmary, they saw that Dr Beckett and a team of drs was working on Ethan to see what was wrong with him. He was unconscious but his face was pale. Sumner demanded to know what was going on but Beckett told him to move aside and let him finish his work. As soon as he knew something, he would let them know. Knowing he was not going to get anything else from the man, he stepped back while a flurry of activity was going on around the bed. Dr McKay left to continue his work and Major Sheppard volunteered to stay behind and keep watch over the situation. This suited the Colonel just fine as it would keep both of his problems out of his hair for awhile. He really didn't like his XO and believed that he should have been kicked out of the military after the Afghanistan incident. He was a military man through and through and if you could not follow orders than you did not belong in the military. John Sheppard failed to follow his orders and people died. He should have been tossed out on his backside rather than given a slap on the wrist and then promoted. To actually be given a spot on the expedition was the last straw. Colonel Sumner would find a way to get Sheppard out of the military even if it meant taking over the expedition himself. He would not let Dr Weir stand in his way, after all she didn't deserve to be here either. It was only a matter of time before he had all of his pieces in place and one of them gave him a reason to take over command of the expedition. Then both Weir and Sheppard would be gone. He may not be able to send them back to Earth but there were plenty of planets in this galaxy they could settle on. Maybe they could stay with the Athosians. He would never run the risk of letting them stay on Atlantis once he took command.

Major Sheppard decided to sit in a chair and watch the activity before him. He had just got comfortable when that nagging thought in the back of his mind came forward. How does someone just appear in another galaxy wearing Earth clothes and know about Facebook?


End file.
